Well another great party is now in the
books as they say. Well “Too Broke for
Sturgis” has come and gone for 2022!
As I sit to write this we still have not
had a final accounting and the debriefing meeting is still to come. By the time
this edition of The Masterlink is published we should have firm numbers to
tell us how we did this year.
Preliminary numbers put us at an
increase over last year in attendance and
I believe everyone had one heck of a
good time!
I want to congratulate the entire Too
Broke Committee on a terrific job that
they did this year. This group of dedicated ABATE members have donated
hundreds of hours for the betterment of
our organization and the entire motorcycling community.Not only did their hard
work make for a profitable event that
helps fund all of the work we do around
our state, they did everything they could
to make sure that everyone who attended had an amazing weekend and a
memorable time at TBFS!! Well done
guys!
On behalf of the members of ABATE I would
like to thank all of our sponsors who helped to
make this event a success. First of all the fine
folks from Mormon Lake Lodge for once again
providing an amazing location at which to hold
an event like this. This facility is unique in that
it provides all the amenities needed. I would
like to thank all the sponsors without whom we
could not put this event on. I ask all of our
members that when you are in need of a product or service that is provided by one of our
sponsors that you consider using them. Without
these fine folks’ support we could not have made this the success it was.
I would also like to thank all of our vendors. I
hope everyone got to walk around and see
some of the great things available in the vendor
area and taste some of the wonderful food items that were offered.
If you did not have the opportunity to attend
this year’s TBFS event please mark your calendars for next year! This is ABATE of Arizona’s
one state wide fund raising event and every
ABATE member should try to attend and dedicate themselves to volunteer and work this
event for the good of our organization. I understand that sometimes it is not possible for
everyone to make it to these events, BUT an
organization such as ours with HUNDREDS of
members, should not be as shorthanded as we
were. If not for the hard work and dedication
of a small group of our members and the support of several other clubs and volunteers we
would not have been able to accomplish this.
I could keep on listing those individuals and
Clubs that stepped up and volunteered their
time and efforts in support of our great motorcycling community but I would miss some and
I do not wish to lessen their importance or our
appreciation of them. SO to everyone who
worked to make this event great, no matter
what you did or how long you worked,
THANK YOU!!!
Many times when you attend an event you see
that “A portion of the proceeds” will go to
some cause. I want to assure everyone that
ALL the proceeds go towards continuing the fight for “Freedom of the Road”. This helps
pay for our newsletter The Masterlink. It funds
our lobbyists and our delegations to Bikers
inside the Beltway in Washington D.C. It
allows us to send participants to conferences
such as “The Meeting of the Minds” put on by
the MRF. The information and knowledge
gained by attending these seminars and workshops is extremely valuable in dealing with
issues here in Arizona. It also makes it possible
for ABATE of Arizona, to be able to fund our annual “Motorcycle Day at the Dome”.
The musical entertainment for the weekend
was provided by “Last Train to Juarez” on
Thursday evening, “The Bayou Bandits” were
scheduled for Friday but had to cancel at the
last minute, “Skarlett Fever” who were scheduled for Saturday were able to step up and perform both Friday and Saturday thus saving the
day. Thanks to all the musicians who entertained us over the weekend.
As I stated at the beginning, this event takes a
staggering amount of man hours to put it on. I
want to make sure that all of the volunteers
who worked the many jobs needed know how
much we appreciate them and their dedication
to our organization. It takes a lot of volunteers
to work registration, membership, to handle
traffic control, to work the merchandise tent, to
man the gates and check points, to sell 50/50
tickets and I could go on and on. Everyone
who volunteered no matter at what capacity,
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK
YOU!!!
Lastly I wish to thank the most important people of all, those who attended this year’s event!
By their attendance they have helped ABATE
of Arizona to be able to continue to work hard
for the rights of all motorcyclists and to help
educate not only motorcyclists but ALL drivers
as to the importance of being aware of riders on our roads.
I know the Too Broke for Sturgis committee is
always looking for some new blood to join the
Too Broke committee. I would like to see more
members from other chapters outside of the
Phoenix metro area become members of the
TBFS committee. It is time to start teaching others what is done and how this event comes
together. It is also important that we get fresh
ideas. Just because we have always done it one
way does not mean there isn’t a better way.
Please talk it over amongst your chapter members. We are also interested in any ideas you
may have to help make this event bigger and
better. Please write down your ideas and share
them with the Too Broke committee.
Remember that this is your organization and
therefore TBFS is YOUR event. Please let us
try and make it the great event we all know it should be!
Remember that reason that more motorcyclists
are not members of ABATE is because they
have never been asked to join. SO when you
are out with other riders at an event or maybe
you just ran into another rider at the gas stop,
ASK! Always carry a membership tri-fold with
you. The time to organize and fight for our
rights and freedoms is BEFORE they are gone!
Please be aware that The Masterlink is your
newsletter too! If you or your Chapter or members hold an event or ride, or attend any events
or socials with the various organizations
throughout our state, PLEASE take some photos and write a short story/description of the
event and submit it to The Masterlink. We
always need additional material to fill the
pages and we would rather cover the happenings here in Arizona and give coverage to our
fellow riders and their groups for functions and
events they are having, so don’t be shy, submit
some photos and/or an article!
Until next month!!
Jim ButsbackState PresidentABATE of Arizona
